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Three years after guiding her alma mater to the Class 3A state girls' basketball title, and for the third time in the last four seasons, Largo coach Ayana Ball-Ward will return to the state semifinals. Ball-Ward and the Lions will face an unbeaten foe in their state semifinal matchup today at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in Catonsville.

Largo (22-3) cruised through the 3A South Region tournament, but Ball-Ward is eager to see her squad go one step further than it did last winter, when the Lions were upended by eventual state 3A champion Fallston, which is now a 2A program. Four current Largo players — juniors Jessica Lyons and Brittany Taylor and seniors Cierra Johnson and Chelsea Morris — are averaging in double figures in scoring.

The Lions' opponent is Seneca Valley (25-0), which feature one of the best players in the state in senior Kelsey Wolfe, who will play for the University of Virginia in the fall. Ball-Ward said Wolfe reminds her of Fallston standout Jess Harlee, who had 26 points and 22 rebounds against the Lions in the state semifinals last March. Wolfe is the primary reason the Screaming Eagles recorded their first undefeated regular season in school history and notched their first region title since 1978.

"She's a lot like [Harlee]," Ball-Ward said of Wolfe. "She's a tremendous player on both ends of the floor. Everything they do goes through her. We're going to have to rely on our quickness. We want to play an up-tempo game. We'll definitely have to do a good job on defense and try and deny [Wolfe] too many open looks. Our girls were there last year, so they know what it's like playing n the state semifinals."

Coincidentally, Wolfe and Seneca Valley fourth-year coach Todd Bumgardner arrived at the Montgomery County School in the same year, but until this winter the Screaming Eagles had hardly looked like state title contenders. In the past three years, Seneca Valley was 34-39 and could not get through the 3A West Region. But this year Wolfe (20 points, six rebounds, four assists per game) has been the guiding force behind Seneca Valley's success.

"When she first arrived at Seneca Valley as a freshman you could see that she was special," Bumgardner said of Wolfe. "She's not only a very talented player she also works really hard every day in practice. She's had a great season and a great career, both with me and with her club team, the Fairfax Stars. We have to play our best game against Largo. They're small, but they're quick and their two guards [Lyons and Taylor] are very good."

Neither team had much difficulty getting through their respective regions. Largo defeated Lackey, 69-54, Huntingtown, 82-43, and then top-seeded Westlake, 81-54, to capture the 3A South Region title. Seneca Valley cruised past Quince Orchard, 61-37, slipped past Frederick, 75-70, then downed perennial power Blake, 58-44.

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.